


The Changing of the Tide

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Multi, okay this is really silly, platypus bear with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1990632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world is searching for its Avatar. Sherlock has been hired by Mycroft to track him or her down, and John is hiding from something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Changing of the Tide

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so maybe this is a stupid idea, but I was watching the Legend of Korra and I thought "hey, wouldn't it be really cool if John could heal using waterbending?"  
> Then this monstrosity was born.  
> Platypusbear with me, guys.

“Get down!”

John ducks behind the cover of a hastily erected earth shield. Thank goodness he has an experienced earth bender by his side. He would have been dead long ago if not for Bill’s solid stone walls.

He can hear yelling over the radio.

“Cap! Franklin’s down! He’s been shot in the leg! We think the bullet hit a major artery!”

“Keep pressure on the wound, I’m coming over!”

John’s brow is furrowed as they give him directions.  _There._ A brick wall, the pathetic, dusty remnant of a bombed house. He can see faint movements in the shadows.

A burst of gunfire startles him. John pinches himself on the thigh through his camo trousers. _You need to stay focused._

_Stay…_

“Murray!” Beside him, Bill nods.

“Cover me! I’ve got this.”

“John, whatever you’re planning on doing-“

“Don’t worry. I can handle it.”

Bill looks at him and nods.

“I’ll keep you safe. Do whatever you gotta do, Cap.”

John quickly pulls out his hydration pack and takes a deep breath. The water flows out in a blob, suspended in the air. _Become your element._

John is millions of molecules, hydrogen bound to oxygen. He can taste the tang of mineral traces, the artificial flavor of plastic that contained the water. In his stomach, he feels a tug. _Take me to the source._ Deep below his feet is groundwater. Life-giving, and life-taking. He needs to access that cache.

He blankly feeds the water back into its container. Everything is muffled. In his ears is the rush of blood- or is it the water flowing through the ground that feeds the wells? They are the same.  

John’s eyes open. They are a blazing white.

Bill inhales sharply, and John struggles to keep himself under control. He turns.

“Forget what you saw. What matters is right now. _Do you copy?_ ”

A nod. Good man.

John stands fluidly. Everything is liquid.

He runs toward the pile of bricks, trusting Bill’s earthbending. The grind of rock, cracking and rising to protect him follows, as fireballs burst from out of nowhere, aiming for his head.

In this state, he is unconcerned.

John makes it to cover without incident. It felt like a second had passed. Breathing deeply, he centers himself and looks at his tired and dirty men. They’re huddled around Frankie, whose right leg is completely soaked in blood.

He kneels down beside his prone body and checks his vitals. Weak pulse. Frankie lolls his head to the side to crack a grin.

“If you’re here for the damsel, you got her.”

Good. If he can crack jokes, he can stay alive for a while yet.

John mentally reaches for the groundwater, and _pulls_. It rises slowly, then faster and faster, until he sees a patch of dirt darkening moistly. Great blobs of water flow to join the swirling ball in his hands. He can taste iron among the traces of minerals and metals that are in the water. John’s eyes close, and he hears the men breathe in fascination as the water starts to glow, imbued with the energy of life and heat around him.

He washes the wound and holds a tendril of water over the seeping hole. Flesh heals and pushes the bullet out. He watches muscle knit back together so slowly, and then newly pink skin closes over what had previously been a mess.

The guys start to cheer around him, and Frankie opens his eyes in wonder.

“You wanna give Sleeping Beauty a kiss, Cap?”

And then everything goes to hell when a bullet bunches through John’s shoulder.


End file.
